Land Forces - Meta-Defense.fr

Why is a defense effort of 2% of GDP insufficient for France?

Upon his arrival at the Elysée Palace in 2017, the new President Emmanuel Macron made a major effort to bring France's defense effort to 2% of its Gross Domestic Product, as France had committed to in 2014 during the NATO summit in Cardiff. To achieve this, the new executive implemented a new Military Programming Law from 2019 to 2025 aimed at achieving this objective, as well as at repairing the numerous and sometimes dramatic deficiencies from which the French armies suffered after 20 years of under-investment. of a particularly heavy operational activity. This was a paradox for this designated period…

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The US Army abandons its Strategic Long-Range Cannon super-gun program

May 24th

Faced with the probable return of international tensions and the risk of high-intensity conflict, the US Army undertook, in 2017, to launch a new super program designated BIG 6, in reference to the BIG 5 super program of the early 70s which gave birth to to the Bradley, the Patriot, and the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, among other things. Among the critical pillars of the BIG 6, alongside the Futur Vertical Lift program to replace combat helicopters and the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle program to replace the Bradleys, is the Long Range Precision Fire pillar, aimed at providing the US Army with new generation artillery.…

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The European super-speed Racer helicopter demonstrator will be flying by the end of the year!

May 23thMay 23th

Among the many lessons that emerged from the Ukraine war, the vulnerability of combat helicopters was particularly highlighted, to the point that despite obvious material superiority in this area, Russian air combat capabilities were largely under-exploited after the disaster of the attack on Hostomel airport. Because of their low speed, the Russian aircraft were easily targeted by Ukrainian anti-aircraft systems, and in particular MANPADS infantry missiles. In addition, the destruction on the ground of nearly 40 aircraft on the Kherson base by artillery strikes also highlighted the obligation to deploy these aircraft to…

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The Czech Republic negotiates the acquisition of 50 Leopard 2A7+ heavy tanks

May 19thMay 19th

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, the Czech Republic has been one of the countries most involved in providing military support to Ukrainian fighters. Despite a reduced armed force of only 25.000 soldiers and reservists, and a defense budget capped at €4 billion per year, Prague did not hesitate to transfer part of its stock of T-72M1 tanks to Kyiv. reserves, but also artillery, anti-aircraft defense and ammunition systems, and intends to continue this effort until the end of the conflict. The country obtained, in this perspective, the support of Berlin, which announced the transfer of…

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After Belgium, Colombia is preparing to order the CAESAR mounted cannon from French Nexter

May 18thMay 18th

Since entering service in 2008, the Canon Equipped with a Nexter Artillery System, or CAESAR, has met with significant operational and commercial success. Successfully employed by French gunners in Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon and Mali, and by its international users in Cambodia (Thailand) and Yemen (Saudi Arabia), the French system has demonstrated excellent operational qualities, combining high mobility at high reach (up to 40 km with ERFB shells, more than 50 km with added propulsion shells), as well as high accuracy even with unguided shells. These qualities were put to good use by the French artillery…

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Has France lost its audacity in Defense innovation?

May 12thMay 19th

At the start of the week, the French Defense Innovation Agency launched two calls for projects to design vagrant ammunition models. These weapons, sometimes improperly called suicide drones, mark the news in the Ukrainian conflict, with the arrival of the Switchblade 300 and 600 models and the mysterious Phoenix Ghost specially designed by the US defense industry at the request of the Ukrainians. However, the effectiveness of vagrant ammunition did not emerge during this conflict, nor even during the Nagorno Karabakh war in 2020 during which the Israeli-made Harops and Orbiters saturated the Armenian defenses. Indeed, this type of ammunition exists…

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Greece ready to spend €2 billion to modernize its Leopard 1 and 2 heavy tanks

May 11thMay 11th

If the United States and some of the Europeans tend to soften their positions vis-à-vis Turkey, the Greek authorities and military, for their part, are far from sharing this hope about a possible change of method. and objectives on the part of the Turkish President, R. T Erdogan, and a normalization of relations with Ankara. While Greece can rely on solid growth of 8,1% in 2021 and more than 7% expected in 2022, and its public finances are again in the green, Athens can now focus on modernizing its its ground forces, after devoting…

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Colombia becomes a "major ally" of the United States

May 11thMay 11th

The war in Ukraine has generated a certain radicalization at the level of international relations, in Europe of course, but also on the whole planet. In this context, President Maduro's Venezuela did not fail to play an important card, by displaying unfailing support for Moscow from the outset of the conflict, and by systematically voting against the texts targeting the Russian Federation at the United Nations. . For Caracas, it is a question of securing the good graces of the Kremlin, whose military support and in terms of arms exports are essential to maintaining the regime in place. If the rapprochement with Moscow and Beijing dates from…

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Russian forces lost first T-90M heavy tank in Ukraine

May 5th

With the exception of the T-14 Armata which is currently not in operational staffing in the Russian armies, the T-90M Proryv-3 (Breakthrough-3) is unquestionably the most modern tank, the best armed and the best protected in service with Russian units. However, the tank presented as a T-90 incorporating many elements from the T-14 Armata, in particular the 125 mm 2А82-1М gun and the Kalina fire control system, was only engaged in Ukraine at the end of April 2022. Although entering service in 2019, the T-90M is indeed a rare commodity within the Russian armed forces,…

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What solutions to deal with the threat of light drones and vagrant ammunition?

May 4thMay 4th

At the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine, the balance of power, particularly in terms of available firepower, was so much in favor of the Russian forces that it seemed very difficult, if not impossible, for the Ukrainian forces could withstand more than a few weeks in the face of the onslaught of fire and steel that was to come. However, the Ukrainian command managed to use its available means to the best of its ability to exploit the opponent's weaknesses, such as the need to stay on paved paths and roads, to harass with mobile and determined infantry units, the Russian logistics lines , while blocking mechanized offensives by…

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